The Toronto Star discusses the research of Jennifer Lansford, a professor of psychology and cultural anthropology at Duke University. Lansford conducts cross-cultural research on motherhood.

“Universally, one of the key tasks of motherhood is to make children feel loved, accepted and valued, and that’s regardless of cultural context…Mothers who are able to do this successfully will have children who are better adjusted,” she says.

“In the U.S., for example, a good mother is reactive… She responds to the child’s needs, feeding or changing him when he cries. In contrast, a good mother in Japan is proactive, attempting to anticipate the needs of her baby before he cries.”

“Lansford acknowledges that her research makes cultural generalizations, and cautions against drawing sweeping conclusions because there is significant variation within countries and cultures.”

New research explores the different ways mothers show they love their babies in countries around the world.

Marco Chown Oved, May 09 2013

]]>http://anthronow.com/press-watch/motherhood-across-cultures/feed0Breastfeeding in the Classroomhttp://anthronow.com/press-watch/breastfeeding-in-the-classroom
http://anthronow.com/press-watch/breastfeeding-in-the-classroom#respondWed, 12 Sep 2012 08:22:30 +0000http://anthronow.com/?p=2425Adrienne Pine was in a jam. The assistant anthropology professor at American University was about to begin teaching “Sex, Gender & Culture,” but her baby daughter woke up in the morning with a fever. The single mother worried that...]]>

Adrienne Pine was in a jam. The assistant anthropology professor at American University was about to begin teaching “Sex, Gender & Culture,” but her baby daughter woke up in the morning with a fever. The single mother worried that she had no good child-care options.

So Pine brought her sick baby to class. The baby, in a blue onesie, crawled on the floor of the lecture hall during part of the 75-minute class two weeks ago, according to the professor’s account. The mother extracted a paper clip from the girl’s mouth at one point and shooed her away from an electrical outlet. A teaching assistant held the baby and rocked her at times, volunteering to help even though Pine stressed that she didn’t have to. When the baby grew restless, Pine breast-fed her while continuing her lecture in front of 40 students.